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2 Sheets-Sheet 1.

(No Model.)

W. VON OEGHELHAEUSVER.

GAS ENGINE.

Patented Dec. 24, 1889.

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2 Sheets-Sheet 2.

(No Model.)

W. VON OEOHELHAEUSER.

GAS ENGINE.

Patented Dec. 24, 1889.

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N ETERS. Pholmlillwgrlphur, Wilhmgior D. c,

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

IVILHELM VON OECHELIIAEUSER, OF DESSAU, lrERMANY.

GAS-ENGINE.

SPEIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 417,? 59, dated December24, 1889.

Application filed May 23, 1889- Serial No. 311,814. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, WILHELM VON OECHEL- HAEUSER, engineer, a subject ofthe King of Prussia, residing at Dessau, 3O Cavalier Strasse, haveinvented certain new and useful Improvements in and Relating toGas-Engines; and 1 do-hereby declare the following to beafull, clear,and exact description of the invention, such as will enable othersskilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same,reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and to letters ofreference marked thereon, which form a part of this specification.

The invention relates more particularly to the art of regulating orgoverning the speed of the piston in gas engines, or more properly theWork performed by such piston; and it consis s in a novel mode of andmeans for regulating such Work, substantially as hereinafter fullydescribed, and set forth in the claims.

I have discovered and extensive experiments have fully demonstrated thatwhen a non-combustible gas or gaseous compoundthat is to say, a gas orcompound that in itself is non-combustible, but that Will becomecombustible when another gas (as, for instance, air) is combinedtherewithis admitted under pressure and Within the reach of an ignitorinto the Workingcylinder of a gas-engine charges of gas may be burnedWithin a body of air the relative proportions of which surpass by farthe limits of the combustible compounds heretofore employed. This willbe readily understood When it is borne in mind that combustion will takeplace as soon as a sufficient quantity of air has combined with the gasadmitted to produce a combustible gas and before the incoming gas hascombined with the body of air contained in the working-cylinder, orbefore the gas has combined with a suflicient quantity of air to soattenuate it as to render it again non-combustible. In this manner gasin any desired quantity, or gas in any desired limited or smallquantities relatively to the air in the cylinder, may be ignited.Consequently any desired pressure or pressures limited to any desireddegree may be obtained Within the cylinder, so that the operation of themotor the body of stored gas.

regulating gas-engines may be rendered practicable and appliedeconomically, the admission of the charge of gas into the charge of airin the Working-cylinder should be instantaneous, Whatever the volume ofsaid charge of gas and at Whatever point of its stroke the piston may beat the time of admission. In this manner any desired degree of pressureis rapidly attained, and the expansion resulting from the combustion ofa charge of gas or from a plurality of charges admitted during one andthe same stroke of the piston made fully available. In carrying out mynovel mode of regulating gas-engines it is therefore not sufficient, asin the modes heretofore in use, to simply cut off the supply of gas tothe pump and force the gas from the dead-space thereof into theWorking-cylinder, because then the rapidity as Well as the duration ofadmission to the cylinder Will constantly depend upon the comparativelyslow motion of the pump-piston or .the position of the latter at thetime.

According to my method I store the gas under an excess of pressure in acollector or receiver interposed between the working-cyh inder and pump,a governed cut-off being provided in the communication between saidcollector and the combustion-chamber of the cylinder, so that therequired charge of gas may be admitted thereto instantaneously and atany desired point of the stroke of the piston, a cut-off being alsoprovided for the communication between the collector and the pump. Theregulation of the charges of gas admitted does ,therefore, not dependupon the throttling of the gas-supply pipe, but upon the variation inthe tension or pressure of The regulation of the charges is thereforeentirely or absolutely independent of the speed of the pumppiston or theposition of the latter during the admission and relatively to theadmissionvalve. Consequently my method of regulating gas-engines is notonly applicable to such engines in which several charges of gas areadmitted during one and the same stroke of the piston, or in which acharge is admit-ted after every other stroke only, but to all engines inwhich a charge of non-combustible gas is forced within the reach of anignitor into a charge of air already contained in the working-cylinder.In addition to regulating the tension or pressure of the gas previous toits admission to the cylinder the duration of admission may also beregulated by controllin g the organ of admission. from the governor.This, however, requires complex mechanisms, and as the charges of gasare to be admitted instantaneously the duration of admission willnecessarily be uncommonly short, and such regulation can therefore bedispensed with. For this reason I prefer to effect the regula tion ofthe charges of gas solely through variationsin the pressure or tensionof the body of gas from which the charge is taken, and this may beeffected by devices controlled by the governor and so arranged as toallow a portion of the stored gas to return to the pump, or theconnection between the pump and source of supply, whenever a diminutionin the pressure, or, in other words, a reduction in the charge of gas tobe admitted, becomes necessary. On the other hand, the stored gas may beallowed to flow into a second collector,

- or a section of the first collector interposed between the latter andthe pump-cylinder, and a suitable cut-off mechanism provided andcontrolled by the governor. Finally, both arrangements last describedmay be combined, and in either of them a controllingvalve, adapted to beoperated by hand, may be arranged in the comn'ninications, whereby theoperation of the devices or the sensitiveness thereof may be regulatedwithout necessitating an adjustment of the governor.

Referring to the accompanying drawings, Figure lis a horizontal section,partly in plan, of so much of a gas-engine as will be neces sary toillustrate my invention. Fig. 2 is a Vertical section on line at a: ofFig. 1, showing the pressure-regulating valve as connected with thegovernor, the latter being shown in elevation; and Fig. 3 is a viewsimilar to that shown in Fig. 2, illustratinga modification in that boththe regulating and admission valves are controlled by the governor, andalso showingrother modifications.

A indicates the combustion-chamber of the cylinder H, a being theair-admission. port through which air is admitted at normal oratmospheric pressures or through which air under pressure may beadmitted in any usual manner, and d is the exhaust-port. The gas underpressure is admitted through the valved port I), the valve 12 of whichis controlled in any usual or desired manner from a moving element ofthe engine, and instead of the spring-actuated valve any otherdescription of cut-off device may be employed and controlled, asdescribed. The ignitor in this case is, as shown, an electrical ignitor2', arranged in proximity to the gas admission port Z), though any otherdescription of ignitor may be employed and similarly arranged inproximity to port 1), so that the inflowing charge of gas maybe ignitedas soon as sufficient air has combined therewith to form an inflammableor combustible gas. The gas reaches the valve-chamber through passage p,connected with the storage chamber or collector g, that is incommunication with the pump P. These communications are more plainlyshown in Fig. 2 and on a slightly larger scale, the pump shown being asingle-acting pump, though a double-actin g pump may be employed, andmay operate in conjunction with valves,whether slide-valves or others orstopcocks.

The pump is connected on the one hand with the source of gas-supply Zthrough valvecasing r, in which are arranged the suction and forcevalves 8 e, respectively, the valvechamber of which latter valve is incommunication with the collector g. The collector is in communicationthrough a pipe f with the regulating valve t, connected with andcontrolled by the governor R, the valve if operating to admit a portionof the gas from g to a return-pipe q, connected with the valvecasing o'-and supply-pipe Z, a check-valve 3 being arranged in the latter forobvious purposes, and p is the connection between the collector g andthe admission-valve c. It is obvious that if the regulating-valve isadjusted to a normal speed of the governor R when such speed increasesthe port leading from f to q will be more or less uncovered and aportion of the gas in the collectorg will flow back to the suction-pipeand valve 3, thereby reducing the pressure of the gas in g, so that atthe next admission the volume of gas admitted will be reduced inproportion to the reduction of the pressure in g, as will be readilyunderstood, thereby reducing the degree of pressure in the cylinderaccordingly, and consequently the speed of the piston. As the pistonresumes its normal speed, the valve t will again close the port leadingfrom f to q, and the pressure of the gas in 9 will be restored,especially in the more powerful cylinders. It might happen, however,when the piston is moving at too great a speed, that the port leadingfrom f to q will not be sufficiently opened by the valvet to efiect thenecessary or required reduction in the pressure of the gas in thecollector g, and, on the other hand, several pumps would be required torestore the pressure of the gas in the collector after a rapid and greatreduction thereof or by a sudden increase in the work performed by thepiston. This may be avoided by constructing the collector with twochambers or by using an additional 001- lector and interposing in theconnection between the two a cut-off controlled by the regulator. Thisconstruction I have illustrated in Fig. 3, where the valve 23 isconstructed in the form of a long tube g, the lower end of which isprovided with valve-ports operating in conjunction with the port of thereturnpipe g.

It will readily be seen that upon an increase in the speed of the pistonthe communication between the connection f and the tubular collector gis out ch? more or less, and a smaller quantity of gas will flow from gto g. A reduction in the pressure of the gas in will at once take placewithout thereby reducing the pressure in g. As soon as the speed of thepiston necessitates an increased volume of gas this will take place,since the pressure in g was not affected or materially affected by theprior reduction of the pressure in g or in thelatter and in pipe 17,leading to the admission-valve v.

To prevent any excess of pressure in the collector g, a safety-val\ 'emay be applied to such collector and so arranged as to conduct the gasback to the suction-valve or the feedpipe of the pump.

This construction and mode of operating gas-engines may be combined withthat described in reference to Figs. land 2 by simply providing aconnection between g and the suction-valve of the pump. This may beeffected in a very simple manner by providing the valve g with a tubularextension and so constructing the lower end of the same as to performthe function of the cut-off t rela tively to the connection between gand the suction-valve s of the pump, as shown in Fig. 3, so that aportion of the gas will return to the pump for the purposes hereinbeforeset forth;

Both collectors may be provided with a cooling-jacket. The describedmethod has great advantages over that heretofore in use, where a chargeof air and gas is mixed prior to its admission to the working-cylinderand the pressure thereof regulated,in that in the latter case butlimited or definite proportions of air and gas can be introduced intothe cylinder and ignited, and which are yet ignitible after complete orthorough admixture.

The limits within which the motor can be regulated are thereforenarrower, the use of the motive fluid less economical, while theoperation may fail entirely in case of a variation in the admixture ofthe gases beyond these narrow limits. On the other hand, there is dangerof explosion in the collecting-chamber in case of a too-slow admissionof the explosive gas into the working-cylind'er, as it has been proventhat the finest wire fabric will not prevent such explosion, whichcannot take place when gas alone is present in the collector.

In so far as the method of regulating gasengines by regulating the flowof gas to the pump is concerned the described method has the advantagein that the introduction and regulation of the charges are entirely independent of the operation of the pump or the position of its piston, andin that several charges of gas may be successively admitted to theworking-cylinder during one and the same stroke of the pump and betterregulated,

so that the regulation does not take place after the pump has beenworking some time.

To facilitate the starting of the motor and to obtain a sufficientpressure in the collector at the start, the latter may be connectedthrough pipe 10 with a hand-pump and suitable cut-o'ff mechanismprovided to cut off the communication after the motor hasbeen started.

Having described my invention, what I claim is 1. The combination, withthe working-cylinder of a gas-engine, its gas-inlet port, a governedcut-off therefor, and a gas-pump, of a gas-collector respectivelyconnected with said inlet-port and pump, a cut-off in the latterconnection, and a variable cut-off in the connection between thecollector and gas-inlet port, substantially as and for the purposesspecified.

2. The combination, with the working-cylinder of a gas-engine, separateair and gas inlet ports therefor, a governed admissionvalve for saidgas-port, and a gas-pump, of a gas-collector for storing the underpressure, connected with the gas-inlet port and with the pump, anautomatic cut-oft 1n the connection between the pump and collector,

and a regulating device interposed in the connection between saidcollector and gas-inlet port for regulating the flow of gas thereto,substantially as and for the purposes specified.

The combination, with the working-cylinder of a gas-engine, separate airand gas inlet ports therefor, a governed admissionvalve for saidgas-port, and a gas-pump, of a gas-collector connected with thegas-inlet port and with the pump, a cut-o ff device in the connectionbetween the pump and collector, a regulating device interposed in theconnection between the collector and gas-inlet port,

and a connection between said port apd the suction of the pump,substantially as and for the purposes specified.

4. The combination, with the working-cylinder of a gas-engine, itsgas-inlet port,a governed cutoff therefor, and a gas-pump, of agas-collector composed of two communicating chambers connected,respectively, with the forcing end of said pump and said gas-inlet port,a regulating device interposed in the connection between the'twochambers, and a cut-off. device interposed in the connection between oneof said chambers and the pump, substantially as and for the purposesspecified.

5. The combination, with the working-cylinder of a gas-engine havingseparate air and gas inlet ports, a governed cut-cit for said gasinletport, a gas-pump, and a governor, of a gas-collector composed of twocommunicating chambers connected, respectively, with the forcing end ofthe pump and the said gas-inlet port, a regulating device interposed inthe connection between the two chambers and controlled by the governor,and an automatic cut-off device in the connection between the pump andone of said chambers,substantially as and for the purposes specified.

(3. The combination, with the working-cylinder of a gas-engine havingseparate air and gas inlet ports,a governed cut-off for the gasport, anda gas pump, of a gas collector composed of two comm unicating chambers,whereof one is connected with the forcing end of the pump and the otherwith the suction end of said pump and with the gas-inlet port of thecylinder, an automatic cut-off device in the connection bet-ween one ofsaid chambers and the forcing end of the pump, and a regulating devicein the connection between the other chamber and the gas-inlet port ofthe cylinder, substantially as and for the purposes specified.

7. The combination, with the working-cylinder of a gas-enginehavingseparate air and gas inlet ports, a governed cut-off for said gasinletport, and a gas-pump, of a gas-collector composed of two communicatingchambers, whereof one is connected with the forcing end of the pump andthe other with the suction end of said pump and with the gas-inlet portof the cylinder, an automatic cut-off device interposed in theconnection between one of said chambers and the pump, and automaticregulating devices in the connection between the other chamber and thegas-inlet port and between said port and the suction of the pump forcontrolling the flow of gas from the collector to the inlet-port and tothe suction of the pump, substantially as and for the purposesspecified.

in the connection between said chambers, a

connection provided with an automatic cutoff between one of the chambersand the foreing end of the pump, a connection between the other chamber,the gas-inlet port of the cylinder, and the suction of the pump, a reguoinder of a gas-engine having separate air and 5 5 gas inlet ports, avalve for said inlet-port controlled by a moving element of the engine,a gas-pump, a connection between the suction end thereof and thegas-inlet port, an adj 11stable cut-off device in said connection, and agovernor, of a gas-collector connected, respectively, with the forcingend of the pump and with the gas-inlet port of the cylinder, aregulating device cont-rolled by the governor and interposed in thelatter connection, and a like regulating device interposed in theconnection between said gas-inlet port and the suction end of the pump,substantially as and l for the purposes specified.

10. The combination, with the working-cyl- 7o inder of a gas-engin e,its valved inlet-port, and the gas-pump, of a gas-collector incommunication with said inlet-port and pump, and a cut-off deviceinterposed in the connection between the collector and pump, and thepipe to,

connected with the collector, for the purposes specified.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

WILHELM' VON OEOIIELIIAEUSER.

Witnesses:

B. Roi, A. DEMELIUS.

